Abstract

Thermal storage capacity and airflow rate of a solar chimney combined with different PCMs are numerically studied during nighttime. PCMs with phase change temperatures of 38°C, 44°C, 50°C, and 63°C are selected in this numerical study. Results show that the maximum average ventilation rate of 610 kg/m2 and maximum thermal storage of 4750 kJ/m2 are achieved at the phase change temperature of 38°C. However, for phase change temperature of 63°C, night ventilation does not occur under the identical conditions. The findings reveal that a lower phase change temperature can increase the chargeability (and therefore the dischargeability) of a solar chimney, since a higher phase change temperature demands higher solar radiation intensity and longer charging time for a solar chimney. For PCM with a phase change temperature of 44°C, most of the heat stored in PCM is lost to ambient through glass cover by radiation and only a small portion is used for heating the air within air channel.